Boomerang Kids creating Boomerang Hearts

A Boomerang – A curved, flat piece of wood that can be thrown so as to be able to be returned to the thrower.

A boomerang returns to where it was sent from.

It’s also what we currently call that time period when your kids come back home to live after college.

Statistics show one in 5 adults in their 20’s and 30’s is living home. And 60% still receive financial support from their parents. A generation ago it was one in ten. And back in the 50’s and 60’s – most people were married in their early twenties and out on their own.

This current generation of moving back home is primarily due to a series of economic setbacks and outrageous tuition loans.

And if it’s happening to you, there are all sorts articles and blogs to advise you on how to handle this chapter of life. There is advice about how to handle the living arrangements.Talk about how your boomerang kids can ruin your retirement And reasons to enjoy when your son and daughter return home.

Boomeranging Heart

Last May, my youngest had returned to the nest after graduation to start a job with a local firm. The plan was to put away a little cash, start to pay down the school loans, and move out within a year or so.

Fine. Good. We all were doing well. We had it figured out.

We were enjoying having his humor and laugh back home. He still did his thing, we did ours and we came together to watch football, enjoy meals and commiserate over work.

In the fall, he had an opportunity to interview with a company he really wanted to work for.

They made an offer. He got the position. In another city. Not too far away – just down the 95 corridor. Far enough away for him to create his own, new life, but close enough to see one another regularly. Perfect!

Boomerang!

He was out, he returned, he was out again. But it wasn’t his coming and going that was the bothersome part of boomeranging.

It’s the tug on the heartstrings realizing that this is real this time. He’s going and likely never coming back……

So when he packed his car and headed south on Friday from Pennsylvania to Maryland, just as the biggest blizzard in next to forever was moving up the east coast, all sorts of things were going through my head.

My heart which had rebounded just fine after he left for college 4 ½ years ago once again cracked.

Is he ready? Did we tell him enough? Worrying about…everything….

Boomerang! I’ve been here before! My heart boomeranged big time!

Loving someone so much can cause damage!

And then, hours later…. Boomerang again!

He called…He got there before the blizzard started.He found a parking garage to stow his car so he would not have to dig it out from 24+ inches of snow.His new roommate toasted his new life with him and made shrimp tacos as they got to know one another in the middle of the blizzard.All was well.

Boomerang – the heart has returned to where it was sent from and back where it belongs … because where he is and what he is doing is the way his life should be.

I know he’s ready.I know he’s capable.I know he doesn’t need me.

Boomerang… if he comes back, we’ll do it all again.

I’m betting this boomeranging heart will only just get bigger with pride as he spreads his wings and takes off!

In the meanwhile – Boomerang – we are empty nesters again! To be continued….